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Former ND student sentenced six years

Observer Staff Report | Wednesday, March 23, 2011

A former Notre Dame student charged with child molestation received a six-year prison sentence Friday after he engaged in sexual acts with a 12-year-old South Bend girl in April 2010, according to The South Bend Tribune.

Ackley F. John, a senior at the time of his arrest, pleaded guilty in November to two counts of child molestation, both class B felonies. He was arrested on April 4 and released from the St. Joseph County Jail two days later after posting $3000 bond, according to court documents.

University spokesman Dennis Brown said John’s enrollment at Notre Dame ceased April 6.

John said he met the girl on MySpace, and they spent time together on three occasions. According to court documents, the girl called John around 2:30 a.m. on the day of his arrest and asked him to pick her up from a convenience store near her house.

The girl said she performed oral sex on John that night, according to court documents, and he brought her to Notre Dame’s campus when she saw her father’s car outside her home. She said the two argued, and then he told her to go talk to a Notre Dame Security Police (NDSP) officer nearby. NDSP then returned the girl to her parents. Mishawaka Police arrested John that morning.

According to Indiana state law, any sexual intercourse or deviant sexual conduct with a child under 14 years old is considered child molestation. The Observer will not name the girl because she is a minor and the victim of a crime.